The Rise of the Black Plain

The moment Minos understood that he had survived and was safely under the protection of the level 114 General, he sighed, imagining that this man had already heard the basics from Ruth and the others.

"I'll be honest, General. I did it to save my group and, ultimately, my own life. As a member of the Armhands, I know that acting for the good of the guild should be my goal in every action I take.

But the truth is, I can't help the guild if I'm dead. Was this resource worth my death? I can't say. Maybe it was for the elders or other guild members. Not so much for me.

In any case, would there be any guarantee that the resource would reach the guild if I gave up my life in that place? Those Silverdawn members had violated the guild rules by acting against me. I wasn't sure if they would return the resource to the guild after they defeated us..." Minos said, speaking normally since his body had fully recovered in the past few weeks.

The General listened to Minos' explanation without saying anything because it was natural for everyone to have a sense of self-preservation. There was really no way of knowing whether those two traitors would return the resource they had taken from The Obsidian Shore to the guild.

Even so, Minos had deliberately used a valuable resource for the guild when he would never have received permission to do so if he had tried to obtain such permission.

"That will certainly be considered when we get to the guild. But it's not enough to ignore the case," the General said sincerely. "Was that all you got at The Obsidian Shore?"

"No." Minos smiled. "In fact, I managed to preserve some of that black liquid, General. I lost 75% of it, but I figured there was a risk of us being attacked and robbed, so I kept smaller portions of it in the group's various devices.

I also have the corpse of the undead necromancer who was in the area, all the skeletons of our guild mates who fell there, and various artifacts that were there."

Minos quickly removed the seals that blocked some of his and his companions' spatial rings before handing them to the General.

The General's look changed as he began to examine the rings, realizing greater wealth than he had expected from Minos.

Even considering Minos' extravagance, he was still more successful in his mission than the guild had expected. Come to think of it, the balance of this young human's entire mission would still be positive even after his great waste.

'This corpse...' The General sensed some of this corpse's secrets, something that had caused his guild to lose many members over the millennia.

"You did well, Minos. Haha, don't worry. I'll speak to the council on your behalf. That was pretty good of you, boy." He said in a softer tone, much calmer after everything that had happened.

Ruth and the others sighed with relief when they saw the change in their leader there, imagining that their situation when they arrived at the headquarters would be better than they had thought in the past few days.

Rhett looked at Minos with surprise, seeing that this young man not only had great cultivation talent but was also intelligent and cautious.

Not even Minos' companions knew he had such valuable things in his possession!

Thus, their journey would be easier for the next few weeks, and the group would be less concerned about punishment and more interested in the prizes the guild would give them for their success.

Of course, they would have to get new Flashdrain parasites, which they would have to nurture just as much as the previous ones in order to make sacrifices as powerful as the ones they had just made.

...

In no time, Minos' party would arrive in Examire, where they would soon enter the guild's floating island and make their way to the area normally reserved for council members.

On special occasions, lower-level guild members could accomplish such a feat.

Today was such an occasion. Upon returning to the guild, Minos and his staff followed in the footsteps of the level 114 General until they reached the Armhands' administrative headquarters, where the Chief Commander was.

When they encountered the giant behind the guild's operations, everyone in Minos' party, Rhett and the General, prostrated themselves before this supreme being and the elderly individual next to the Chief Commander.

In addition to the Chief Commander, one of the Council Elders was there to receive the items that Minos' group had collected on the recently completed mission.

This being was even stronger than the Chief Commander, being a level 119 being, the strongest Minos and his companions had ever seen.

Once they had prostrated themselves, the General handed his boss the items Minos had obtained. By quickly summarizing what happened on The Obsidian Shore and the following problems, he made them understand Minos' mistakes and successes.

"So Silverdawn isn't completely overrun..." The Chief Commander muttered as he looked at Minos. "Young Soldier, why were those two interested in you? Do you have any idea?"

"Commander, the level 110 Sovereign who attacked us was the twin brother of the enemy who almost killed me a few years ago when we were on a mission against Silverdawn. The other level 108 Sovereign was the young master of that sect, and he tried to get close to me years before this mission we've just completed.

I imagine that they didn't like me before. When they found out that I was going to The Obsidian Shore, they probably thought that they could get my fate and kill me before I returned to the headquarters."

Minos would never have said that those beings had tried to steal his destiny of finding the Incorruptible Heart on The Obsidian Shore!

But what he said wasn't a lie. There might indeed be some hatred towards him from those beings, and they really did want something that he got in The Obsidian Shore.

"So that's it..." The Chief Commander muttered, wondering what would motivate such powerful Sovereigns to act against a mere Grandmaster.

The Council Elder then said to him before leaving with the items the General had delivered. "Solve this problem with Silverdawn. In any case, give this group its prize. They've done well."

As much as Minos had wasted something valuable, what he had brought back was already more than his mission required!

So even after this problem, he still completed his mission with extra merit!